TRIAL 038; TERROR

The police claimed to have solved it in 48 hours after officers sniffed out a workshop in Patel Nagar where these bombs 8212; containing an explosive mixture of picric acid and ammonium nitrate 8212; were assembled. Forty eight people were named as accused, among them Delhi-based tax lawyer Kartar Singh Narang, who the police said was the mastermind. Twenty three years have passed, and at least six of the accused, including Narang, are dead. But the case still waits for its conclusion. At present, it is stuck on recording evidence of prosecution witnesses. The defence has not presented its evidence yet, following which the final arguments will begin.

Parliament Attack, 2001
Parliament was attacked on December 13 in 2001. Five gunmen had driven into the building in a car and started firing indiscriminately. Fourteen people were killed. All five terrorists had been shot dead. This case 8212; that heightened tension between India and Pakistan 8212; was solved under the provisions of POTA. The Supreme Court in August 2005, confirmed the death sentence for mastermind Mohammad Afzal awarded by the High Court earlier. It, however, reduced the sentence awarded to another convict, Shaukat Hussain Guru, from capital punishment to 10 years in jail. It also upheld the acquittal of the other two, Delhi University college lecturer S A R Geelani and Afsan Guru. Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who died in an encounter after the September 13 blasts, was the investigating officer in this case. He also actively participated in the probe of the Diwali-eve blasts.

Lajpat Nagar blast, 1996
The Lajpat Nagar blast 12 years ago was perhaps the first in the Capital that was dealt by a 8216;foreign hand8217;. The bomb was kept in a white Maruti car outside a shop in the busy market. The blast was engineered by a timed device. It went off on the evening of May 21 amid shoppers and killed 13 people. Thirty eight people were injured, 14 buildings and shops as well as eight cars were damaged. The police had alleged that the plot was laid out in Pakistan by one Bilal Ahmed Beg and carried out by Kashmiri militants. Investigating officers filed a chargesheet subsequently naming 16 as accused. It listed 201 people as witnesses.

After an intervention by the Delhi High Court, the matter was taken up by the trial court on a day-to-day basis. A long wrangle followed and the final arguments of the case were presented only in July this year.

Those facing trial for various offences, including criminal conspiracy and murder, are 8212; Farooq Ahmed Khan, Mohd Naushad, Mirza Iftikhar, Mohd Ali Bhat, Mirza Nissar Hussain, Latif Ahmed Waza, Syed Maqbool Shah, Javed Ahmed Khan, Abdul Gani and a woman associate Farida Dar8212; Beg8217;s sister.

Twin cinema blasts, 2006
Another case that is still waiting for justice concerns the blasts in the Satyam and Liberty cinema halls on May 22, 2006. One person had been killed and over 60 injured in these explosions.

The blasts were seen as an attempt to disrupt the shows of the Sunny Deol starrer Jo Bole So Nihaal, which had become controversial because of the title 8212; a Sikh battle cry.

The Special Cell had in August, 2005 chargesheeted Jagtar Singh Hawara and seven others for the twin blasts. Hawara is the country chief of the Babbar Khalsa International and is now in custody in Punjab.

However, the case is still in its initial stages. Several legal experts said there was nothing extraordinary in judicial delay because such cases are complicated and also because the country8217;s justice disposal system provides several rights to the accused.

Diwali-eve blasts, 2005
Next came serial blasts, the first being on the evening of October 25 in 2005, with Diwali just around the corner. The bombs went off in Sarojini Nagar, Paharganj and Kalkaji. They killed 67 people and injured over 225.

After two years, the trial court this January clubbed all three blasts to be heard together and ordered that charges be framed against Tariq Ahmed Dar and four of his associates for the crime. However, the trial of one of the accused, Ghulam Ahmed Khan, was taken up separately as he was found mentally unfit. All accused are in custody.

The court is at present examining the prosecution8217;s witnesses, though most of them still have not taken the witness box. Apart from Dar and Ghulam, the others facing charges of 8216;waging war against the state, murder and conspiracy8217; are Mohammed Rafiq Shah, Mohammed Hussain Fazli and Farooq Ahmed Batloo.

The prosecution got a boost last month when witness Rajiv Sinha identified Rafiq as the man who had left the bag containing explosives in a public bus. This had exploded when the bus was in Kalkaji.

Realising it has to examine a long list of witnesses and sift through documents running into thousands of pages, the court has fixed Saturdays exclusively to hear this case.

Where do they stand?
Transistor blasts, 1985
Dead: 85; Injured: Over 150
Status: Evidence is still being recorded
Lajpat blast, 1996
Dead: 13; Injured: Over 38
Status: Final arguments began in July
this year after High Court stepped in
Diwali blasts, 2005
Dead: 60; Injured: Over 200
Status: 24 witnesses examined till date, many more to go
Cinema blasts, 2006
Dead: 1
Injured: Over 60
Status: Evidence is being recorded

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